Tablet and App Sites

What’s a Tablet?

Tablets are getting us closer to the dream of a "Universal Computing Device". Thin and comfortable to hold, a tablet can basically anything your laptop does - and more. A tablet conceptually is the merger of laptops and mobile phones. The best manufacturers have what is called a Platform: a big selection of devices in three categories (phone, tablet, and computer), with apps that run across all the devices - based on a consistent user interface. A tablet can go with you wherever you go, fits neatly into a backpack or even just a binder. Tablets have cameras, bluetooth, microphones, and many more features. There are 100,000's of apps now, which is great for users but also creates a new problem, called the App Discovery Problem: there is just too much choice, with too little help and advice in choosing apps.

If you want to upgrade your tablet to a newer one, try out our site, TradeInTablets.com. Tablets could even potentially evolve into something even thinner, the dream of "electronic paper". The only limit now to what mobile devices can achieve, is our imagination.

What’s an App?

An App is just the abbreviation for the word Application, which is just software. Apps run on phones tablets, and computers. Most apps are obtained by download, and many are free. A good app is worth paying for, and its amazing how many apps are inexpensive; because so many get sold, the app author can sell them for less.

The best situation is when your apps will run on all your devices (phone, tablet, and computer). This is called a "Platform". Most companies right now do not have a full platform and so, we are not recommending them. We like the Apple and Android platforms; Samsung is by far the most complete vendor of Android devices. Ubuntu is also a platform - with probably the most consistent UI (User Interface), but Ubuntu has fewer apps than the other platforms.

The biggest problem in technology today, and in tablets in particular, is in App Discovery. There are just too many apps now, which makes it hard to find the really good ones - and thus its very hard to truly optimize your devices. App Discovery is also called 'Curation.

Tablets are great for gaming. You can find a huge number of games for your tablet. Tablets are also great companions to watching a movie or sports on your big TV at home.

There are many free apps, but consider buying some too - it supports the developers, which means more free apps in the future!

Apple or Android?

Apple's version of a tablet is the much talked iPad, known for stability and great apps. Android is an open source tablet operating system, apps are many but quality is sometimes lower; Apple keeps tighter control over their apps, and over the phones UI *(user-interface); thi means that the app author has fewer options in changing the phones UI. Android is available on many platforms and devices, and some companies like Amazon and Barnes&Noble have taken Android as a base and started evolving it into their own OS (Operating System).

You can't go wrong with either Apple or Samsung; both are full platform companies. Ubuntu has a great system too, which is based on Linux. Windows is a good choice for business and is rapidly evolving. Windows phones are solid and dependable, but have fewer apps than Apple and Android.

Unless you absolutely must have Windows for work reasons, we think Apple has the best overall experience; Samsung is close, and costs less. Whether you go Apple or Samsung, consider getting all your devices from one vendor, and then setup a great backup system so you never lose data. A good, automated cloud backup is one of the best things you will ever do. Imagine you never lost a family picture again, for the rest of your life!